The new law is intended to pave the way for a mass rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) by ensuring local distribution networks can cope with demand at peak periods – but it could have a sting in its tail.

The new technology could also provide a mechanism to levy a fuel tax on electricity specifically used to charge EVs. Once a critical mass of EVs arrives on Britain’s roads, the Government will be forced to find a way to replace the £27.2 billion per year it stands to lose in fuel duty today.

The new regulation, announced on 14 December, enables one of the clauses in the new Electric and Autonomous Vehicles Act 2018. It states that all government-funded charging points should be capable of being remotely accessed and receiving, interpreting and reacting to a signal.

In that way, distribution companies can reduce the output or even delay charging for a couple of hours at peak periods to ensure the local network can cope as EV numbers escalate. Users have the option of overriding the smart function if they need the car in a hurry, however.

Because the smart charger knows how much and when electricity is being delivered to an EV, it could also become a mechanism to levy an additional fuel duty tax on the proportion of electricity used by the household to charge an EV.

James McKemey, head of the Insights Team at smart charging point supplier Pod Point, agrees that the technology provides a method of independently metering the amount of energy used to charge EVs. “It’s achievable," he says, "but it would still be pretty complicated, because the information would come from hugely distributed places.”

However, McKemey concedes that taxing of en-route public rapid charging would be relatively simple. Other difficulties would include plugging loopholes, such as the use of slow, 13-amp charging cables and the fact that thousands of basic charging points, which aren't capable of smart charging, have already been installed.

McKemey goes on to say that government bodies he talks to are leaning more towards the idea of road pricing. Fuel duty is effectively an emissions tax, but EVs create no tailpipe emissions.

“It [road pricing] gives you other opportunities," McKemey says, "and with ANPR cameras all over the road network becomes more feasible.

"If you move your system away from taxing emissions, you can, for example, choose to incentivise road use and where. It gives you a tool to penalise congestion to an extent. That’s one of the reasons they’re keen on it.”

Figures support the idea. According to McKemey, UK motorists cover 323.7 billion miles here annually. Total fuel revenue today is £27.2 billion, so the equivalent would be 8.4p per mile if the tax were evenly spread. “You’d rather not be paying it, but it’s not Draconian,” he adds.

A Treasury spokesperson said, “We currently have no plans to levy a new tax on charging points for Electric Vehicles. We keep all taxes under review and any changes to the tax system would be announced at the Budget and consulted on thoroughly in the usual way.”

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Failed idea. Unless an army of like TV licence inspectors are employed to come around snooping on our driveways looking for people using non-metered illicit chargers. Other wise people will just buy an off the shelf charger and have it wired up privately.

Failed idea. Unless an army of like TV licence inspectors are employed to come around snooping on our driveways looking for people using non-metered illicit chargers. Other wise people will just buy an off the shelf charger and have it wired up privately.

The law, in this case, does not apply to domestic premises, but you're forgiven for not getting that because the picture right up at the top of the "story" would suggest otherwise. A "story" which is otheriwse full of "coulds" and "mays" but did a fine job of promoting an outfit that, no doubt, brought it to the attention of Autocar in the first place.

Demand from domestic set ups can already be managed as even with increased EV take up the energy providers are very good at predicting consumption and so can manage it. On street charging, especially in a growing phase, is much less predictable and will take some time for the suppliers to be able to understand and smooth out demand. That's where the smart features come into play, and the actual point here, not a tax scare story, as the suppliers will be able to manage the demand through charge points individulaly or in clusters.

I love the way the statement "the government will be forced to find a way to replace the 27.2 Billion per year it stands to lose in fuel duty".....no thoughts re cutting its own costs instead....getting rid of 90% of the MP's and 'Lords' wh all have their snouts in the trough!!!

Fuel duty goes into combatting and counteracting the emissions caused by ICEs, if there is 100% EV use in the UK, the govenrment will have saved at least that ammount by not needing to fund clean air payments or the increased load on the NHS.

Either that or tax at CO2 source, tax Li imports, tax public chargers in general to incentivise charging at home, or perhaps they will one day stop incentivising EV vehicle purchases, saving money. There are simpler ways of raising funds than this conspiracy theory.

Fuel duty goes into combatting and counteracting the emissions caused by ICEs, if there is 100% EV use in the UK, the govenrment will have saved at least that ammount by not needing to fund clean air payments or the increased load on the NHS.

100% EV use is pie in the sky, and will not be managed in the foreseeable future, there is no substitute for diesel powered LVG's even on the drawing board, at a price with the range of the current one that could force all of the users out of theirs.

...smart meters are really for and then "apparent power" will be the next thing to be added to the bill, in fact once smart meters are "everywhere" then appropriate charges can be added to all sorts of electrical appliances. And let's not forget the energy will still have to be sourced from somewhere.